Israel 2010 Rosh Hashanah ”Shofars”

The shofar is an ancient instrument that emits a loud, clear sound which may be heard from a great distance and it originally served to summon the army in case of emergency and to proclaim holidays and festivals. The Bible mentions the shofar more than 70 times, attesting to its significance in Jewish tradition. According to Isaiah’s prophecy, at the End of Days the sound of the shofar will herald the redemption of the Jewish people and their return to the Land of Israel from the Diaspora, “And in that day, a great ram’s horn shall be sounded, and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt shall come” (Isaiah 27,13).

The shofar’s significance is especially highlighted on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, which the Torah refers to as the “Day of Shofar Blasts”. The Book of Numbers (29, 1) states that “in the seventh month, on the first day of the month… a day when the horn is sounded”. This statement is somewhat surprising – why is the blowing of the shofar noted as the central commandment on Rosh Hashanah, the day when, according to Jewish belief, all people are judged before God?

During the Temple period, the priests played various instruments, such as horns and shofars, while performing their holy duties. Other instruments were also noted in the Book of Psalms, psalm 150, “Praise Him with the blasts of a horn, praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dance, praise Him with lute and pipe”. After the destruction of the Temple, the custom of playing instruments during prayer ceased and only the use of the shofar remained.

The shofars used by Jews of varying origins are mostly made of ram’s horn, while the Jews of Yemen use a twisted shofar made from the horn of an African antelope, called a kodu.